Royal Australian Engineers

The role of the Royal Australian Engineers is to provide geospatial, combat and force-support engineering capabilities to enable joint manoeuvre and survivability.

The Royal Australian Engineers corps is tasked with a variety of functions.

Mobility tasks. Typical mobility tasks are: the construction, repair and maintenance of roads, airfields and bridges; the construction and operation of bridging equipment and ferries; the breaching and clearing of obstacles (such as minefields); unexploded bomb disposal and booby trap clearance; and the provision of terrain assessment advice.

Counter-mobility tasks. Typical counter-mobility tasks are the construction of field defences and obstacles, and the execution of demolitions.

General engineering tasks. Typical general engineering tasks are: the construction, repair and maintenance of facilities such as airfields, bridges, railways, ports, roads, buildings and bulk fuel installations; the provision of essential services such as water, electric power generation and reticulation, fire fighting, sewerage, drainage and waste disposal, cold storage and air conditioning, winning of local resources, (eg timber and gravel); large scale counter-surveillance and deception measures, (such as camouflage of buildings and bridges); decontamination of areas attacked by nuclear, biological or chemical weapons; and aid to the civil community.

Geomatic engineering (surveying) tasks. Typical geomatic engineering tasks include: surveying, photogrammetry, cartography and printing associated with conventional topographic maps; and provision of digital maps and other digital topographic projects required to support the following Australian Defence Force systems: command, communications, intelligence, weapons, navigation, mission planning and training simulation. The provision of digital topographic support is the dominant activity for those involved in these duties.

As a combat support arm, engineers are required to be able to fight in the role of infantry. Engineers are also responsible to Navy and Air Force for beach information, the construction of airfields and sea terminal facilities, and the provision of construction materials.

The Royal Australian Engineers corps motto is ‘Ubique’, which is Latin for ‘Everywhere’. The corps also uses the motto ‘Honi Soit Qui Mal Pense’, which is old French for ‘Evil be to him who evil thinks’ .